It is known that the Imaging Plate (IP), employing the crystal luminescence phenomenon (BaFBr:Eu2+) has been tested as X-ray diffraction detector for the study of crystalline structures of biological materials successfully, X-ray scattering with synchrotron radiation and following characteristics were noted: IP has a very high sensitivity, reaching up to three orders of magnitude higher compared to a conventional X-ray film, large dynamic range, linearity and excellent spatial resolution of the order of 25 μm.
In the present work, in order to find new application and explore the limit of sensitivity of IP for industrial radiography, testing was conducted positioning X-ray radiation source generated by a battery powered up to ten meters far from the targeted composite materials used in wind turbine blades and extra-high voltage composite insulators. First, numerical simulations were conducted and to validate the simulation results, experimental testing was conducted in the laboratory.
As a result, X-ray source with 120 kV positioned up to five meters, high quality images were obtained with exposure time up to 5 minute using HD-CR 35 NDT IP reader. This high sensitivity of IP open new applications of inspection and monitoring the wind turbine blades, composite insulators and so on.